


Coming to Get You

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Calling all the Monsters [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: F/F, Mythology - Freeform, exploration of the afterlife, fantastical creature AU, later mentions of rape (not explicitly talked about)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-27 04:16:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8386864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Four very different spirits come together in the Underworld and become friends. This is the story of how they met and what bonded them together.A prequel to 'Calling All the Monsters,' but you don't have to read that to enjoy this.





	1. Prologue: Don't You Wanna be a Monster, Too?

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not an expert on mythology. My goal with this story was not to paint a portrait of the underworld as it was believed to have been hundreds of years ago, or as people may think of it today. My goal was to take mythological creatures, remix them with Arc V characters, and make something new. In a lot of cases, I couldn’t find a lot of English resources for what I wanted to write about. I hope you enjoy the story, but please don’t think of these characters as the sole representative of actual mythological figures.
> 
> I was inspired to write this series after hearing the song "Calling all the Monsters" by China Anne McClain, and I listened to it after seeing that the user 'gimmickyugo' on YouTube was hosting a MEP for it. I was also inspired by the song/concept of 'Monster High'

From the Book of the Undead

 

_Dryad_

The Dryad spirits are female beings who are bonded to plants. They are born from the hollows of oak trees and emerge as several-years-old children, able to speak and understand elementary level language. A new Dryad spirit is usually born once every hundred years and will live eternally. She can speak with and understand plants, and help them grow with her inherent magic. Each Dryad has a different calling in life. Some breed plants in the Underworld, some travel to other worlds and study plants there. Some travel between worlds and help cultivate new species of plants in each place. The Dryad is not considered an especially powerful spirit, but she is well respected for her role in nature.

 

_Jade Rabbit_

The Jade Rabbits reside in the Moon realm and are responsible for all things that depend on the phases of the moon. They help regulate the tides of the ocean, aspects of the human personality, the undead’s fluctuating powers, and even the passage of time itself. They get their name from human folklore in Asia about the shapes that the moon’s craters form. Legend says that a rabbit lives in the moon, pounding away at a mortar and pestle. In Chinese mythology, the rabbit is creating elixir of life for the goddess Chang’e. In Korean and Japanese mythology, the rabbit is making rice cakes. In reality, the Jade Rabbits are female spirits born in an ancient ritual that is known only to the spirits in charge. Young Rabbits are raised by the oldest of their kind for several years in the Moon realm before being sent to the Underworld to study magic. The Jade Rabbit is a moderately powerful spirit but is largely peaceful and benign.

 

_The Teke-Teke Lineage_

The Teke-Teke lineage began in the 15th century AD, human world time. An onmyoji cast a spell over a sword, dooming all those who were cut with its blade to suffer continual blood loss. The onmyoji’s wife tried to keep him from using the cursed sword, and he used the blade to cut his wife’s body in half. The woman died filled with sorrow and anger, and her soul was trapped in the human world. On orders from her husband the pieces of her body were separated, with her torso and head buried on the estate, and her legs thrown into a river. The curse of the sword kept the woman’s body from holding together even in death, and the soul soon lost her legs. For years she haunted the grounds of her husband’s estate, dragging herself on the ground as she looked for her missing legs.

Only upon the death of her husband were the gods able to bring the woman’s soul to the underworld, with plans to make her a part of the Broken Trust lineage. In return for her suffering the gods gave the woman new legs. But the curse was too powerful for even the gods, and they could not stop the woman from bleeding, nor could they keep her body from falling apart if she ever left the underworld. The woman’s anger overwhelmed the gods, and she vowed that all women who died by being sliced in half would be just like her, constantly bleeding and falling apart, so no one would ever forget her own suffering. She named herself and her future children Teke-Teke, for the sound her half-body made as it dragged along the ground. This type of Onryo is rare, yet among the most powerful, as each Teke-Teke is empowered by the rage that spawned their lineage.

 

_The Banchō Sarayashiki (The Dish Mansion at Banchō)/Broken Trust Lineage_

The Broken Trust lineage dates back to the beginning of human relationships, hundreds of thousands of years ago. This is the most common type of Onryo, and the age of their lineage makes them powerful. These undead are humans who died by the hands of those they once trusted, and in the human world the most famous of them is Okiku. Okiku was a servant who was tricked into believing she had lost a valuable possession of her lord, one of his ten precious plates. Though she counted the plates over and over, she only counted nine. Her lord promised to overlook the loss if Okiku became his lover. She refused, and was killed. Okiku was not the first to be killed this way, but her story remains well-known among humans as the Banchō Sarayashiki legend. Okiku still haunts the grounds on which she was killed, and her story gave the lineage a new name, as all those who died after her knew their role by her story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These descriptions incorporate a mixture of real mythology and my own imagination. You can find more information on all these legends/creatures by searching for them on Google or Wikipedia.


	2. Calling All the Monsters

Serena has been told that she has an unfriendly face. She’s not exactly a friendly person, so she doesn’t really care how her face looks. Serena lives her life in a bubble; she sees, she hears, but she does not interact. It gets lonely, but the thing is in a few years, Serena is going to be worlds away from the people she sees in her classes every day. Someday, Serena is going to be a Jade Rabbit, a moon spirit charged with keeping the lunar balance. She’ll help control the tides, the cycles of life, the powers of certain spells and charms, and so much more. It’s a very big job, and it’s not one she can afford to take lightly.

Well, that’s what the other “rabbits” tell her anyway. Not that any of them are actual rabbits, and it’s dumb that they’re called that, and honestly Serena doesn’t want to be one of them, but she’s got little choice in the matter. It’s either be a moon spirit, or exile herself to the human world, a world that she, quite frankly, finds horrifying. Though maybe her viewpoint is a little skewed, she’s only ever met people who died horrible deaths in the human world.

It’s Serena’s first year of tertiary education, and she’ll live full-time down in the underworld with the rest of the undead, rather than return home to her fellow moon spirits after her lessons. Today is move-in day, and she’s not at all surprised when she learns that her roommate is Yuzu, a dryad spirit. Serena and Yuzu have been partnered up by both of their people for years, since it’s very rare for both to have a new spirit born at the same time. Yuzu is a nice girl, and she’s always been kind to Serena, but she always seems to want more than what Serena can promise her. Yuzu wants Serena to be her best friend, and Serena just can’t do that.

When Serena enters her new home, she expects to find Yuzu running around, cheerfully unpacking and adding potted plants to every corner of the rooms. Instead she finds Yuzu slumped against a wall, her arms around her chest, and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Serena drops her suitcase. “Yuzu?”

Yuzu jumps. “Serena!” She wipes her eyes. “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in, I’m so sorry.”

Serena marches over to Yuzu. “What happened?” She demands. Already she’s thinking of every god and goddess that she knows and all the ways she can bribe them into dragging the low-life who hurt Yuzu straight to hell.

“It’s…” Yuzu takes a deep breath and sobs, “It’s the garden.”

Serena almost slaps herself. Of course it’s the garden. “What’s wrong with it?” She asks, trying to keep the snark out of her voice.

Yuzu hiccups, “It’s all wrong, it’s practically dead, I’ve never seen so many plants in desperate need of help. Oh Serena, it hurt just to look at it, and then they started crying out to me and…and I ran. I couldn’t take it.” She buries her face in her hands and sobs even harder.

Serena feels guilty, then. Yuzu’s not one to cry for nothing, and given her deep connection to plants, this must have been physically painful for her to see. “Well, you are just one person,” Serena says hesitantly. “You can’t always fix things on your own.” Yuzu continues to sob, and Serena pats her head. “There, there,” she says. “Um…do you want me to go there with you?”

Yuzu looks up at Serena with wide eyes. “Would you?”

Serena curses herself for having a bleeding heart. “Yes, I will.”

So Yuzu takes Serena to the garden. Actually, she takes Serena to their new school, and behind the building to the garden that she’s talking about.

“The other dryads told me there was a garden,” Yuzu explains as they walk around the building. “I don’t think they knew how bad it had gotten. I came to see it and…”

The round a corner and Yuzu stops. Serena sees an old willow tree with half-dead vines swaying feebly in the wind. There are over-grown shrubs, half-bloomed flowers, and Serena suspects that much of the greenery is crabgrass. She can see that, once upon a time, this was truly a beautiful place, but the lack of care has taken the beauty out of the garden. Yuzu whimpers and clutches her heart. Serena follows her gaze to the willow tree and she gasps—the vines are reaching towards Yuzu. In fact, nearly all the plants seem to be leaning towards Yuzu.

“Oh, I don’t know what to do,” Yuzu whimpers, wringing her hands.

Serena feels her blood boil. “OYE!” She screams, gazing furiously around the garden, “I know you’re all…desperate for help, but you’re hurting Yuzu! She’s only one dryad and a young one at that, she can’t handle everything that you’re throwing at her.” Serena watches as the plants visibly shrink away. “You better be apologizing!” She hollers.

“They are,” Yuzu says faintly.

Serena looks at the ground. “Sorry, I just couldn’t stand hearing you cry anymore.” She’s aware that she must sound like a bitch, but she’s not quite sure how to be gentle when she’s still boiling over with anger on Yuzu’s behalf.

“It’s okay,” Yuzu says. “Thank you, they really were overwhelming me.”

Serena feels her face heat up and she clear her throat. “Right, so…how does one go about fixing this mess?”

Yuzu looks around. “Soil is the root for healthy plants.” She kneels by the side of the path and scoops up a handful of dirt. She lets it fall between her fingers and she wrinkles her nose. “It’s so weak. It would take forever to replace all this dirt.”

“What does it need?” Serena asks.

Yuzu rattles off a list of things that Serena only half follows, and she quickly stops listening. “Okay, but how do we get all of that?” She interrupts.

Yuzu bites her lip. “There must be a bunch of that stuff in the school. If we boil the ingredients together in water…yes, I think I know a spell that could make it work.”

So Serena grabs Yuzu’s hand and drags her back around to the front door—the only door that allows entry to the building during non-school hours. It doesn’t open.

“Come on!” Serena yells at the door, “We’re students! We need scholastic things!”

The door blows a raspberry at Serena. She kicks it.

“Try being nice,” Yuzu says dryly.

Serena put her hands on her hips and leans close to the door. “Listen, buddy,” she says through clenched teeth, “Someone has neglected the school garden for years. We just wanna help it. Now you can open for us, or I can go get a moonrock and break your fucking window with it.”

There’s a click of the lock unlocking. Serena pushes her way into the building, Yuzu thanks the door before following along. They head straight for the sorcery classroom, and Yuzu starts gathering bunches of potion bottles together while Serena digs a huge cauldron out of the supply closet, hauls it over a burner, and somehow manages to magically direct a stream of water from the faucet to the cauldron. For the first time in her life, Serena finds herself wishing she was a ningyo, or a water mage, anything with more power over liquids than she has as a moon spirit.

Once the cauldron is full, Yuzu adds rocks, powders, herbs, and bright liquids to the water, and turns the burner up as high as it can go.

“This isn’t a toxic mix, is it?” Serena asks.

Yuzu stares at her. “We’re undead.”

“I know but like, it’ll still hurt if this building explodes around us.”

Yuzu giggles. “Yeah, I guess it would, but that won’t happen.”

Serena nods and stares at the cauldron. “Damn it,” She says, “How are we going to carry this water outside?”

So they leave the cauldron boiling and run around the building, gathering smaller buckets and watering cans, cups and bottles, anything at all they can use to water the garden. When the mixture boils, they begin filling the various containers and carrying them to the door nearest the garden. They keep it propped open as they run back and forth to the door and the garden, dumping the mineral infused water over the soil. It’s exhausting work, and when they’ve run out of water there’s still more ground to cover, so they go back to the cauldron and make a second batch of the mixture, and then Yuzu gets another cauldron out and makes a third batch just for the giant willow tree.

Serena and Yuzu work for hours. Even as the sun begins to set, they continue to water the garden. Serena’s never been one to pay much attention to plants before, but as the day goes on and she helps Yuzu heal the soil, turn it by hand with spades to aerate it, and pull the choking crabgrass from the flower beds, she finds that she can feel the effect that their actions are having on the garden. She can almost feel the plants rejoicing with each cup of water, each weed pulled. When she and Yuzu water the tree, Serena feels vines gently brush her hair and she senses that the tree is thanking her.

The last cup of water is dumped over a tiny daffodil just as the moon rises over the school building. Serena is exhausted, her entire body aches from the physical labor, and she’s drenched in sweat. But she soaks in the moonlight, regaining her strength from it. She watches Yuzu stroke the petals of the tiny daffodil and coo over how sweet it is, and she quickly forgets her pain and discomfort.

“I can never thank you enough for your help,” Yuzu says, and it takes Serena a minute to realize that Yuzu is talking to her.

“You know what?” Serena says, smiling, “I would do it again in a heartbeat. I see why you do it now.”

Yuzu’s smile is brighter than the moonlight. “The plants are thanking you, too,” she says.

Serena looks around the garden and says, “Yeah, I can kind of feel it.”

A few weeks later, Yuzu takes Serena back to the garden to show her how it’s getting on. In the weeks since Yuzu took over the garden, she’s doubled the number of plants that grow in it, and she’s constructed a greenhouse.

“I want to show you something special,” she says as she leads Serena into the greenhouse. She takes Serena to a group of rather unassuming cacti and kneels down next to them.

“They’re called Night-blooming Cereus,” Yuzu says, keeping her eyes on the plants. “The flowers that they grow only bloom at night, and they’re most commonly called moonflowers.” Her cheeks turn pink and she says, “I planted them for you, so the garden and all those who come to it will remember that a Jade Rabbit helped it heal.”

“Oh, wow,” Serena says. She kneels beside Yuzu and stares at the plants, overwhelmed to the point of speechlessness. “I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Is it too cheesy?” Yuzu asks, rubbing her neck.

Serena grabs Yuzu’s hand and laces their fingers together. “No, I don’t think so,” she says. “I’m honored, really.”

Yuzu’s face is bright red. She takes a deep breath, then leans over and kisses Serena’s cheek. Serena feels like she can hear the plants cooing over how cute she and Yuzu are.

 

* * *

 

 

The last thing Rin remembers is the horrible screech of metal on metal, and shattered glass showering down on her head. The next thing she knows she’s lying in a dark, damp cavern, and a boy is standing over her.

“Can you hear me?” He asks

Rin sits up. “Who the hell are you? Where am I?”

The boy sighs. “My name is Kite. I escort the dead to where they need to go. You’re dead, and you’re currently between the human world and the underworld.”

Rin sits up and looks around the cavern, then down at herself. She screams, her hands flying to her waist. She’s covered in blood. She lifts her shirt and screams again—there’s a cut going straight across her abdomen. She touches her back and screams for a third time as she feels a break in her skin.

“What happened to me?!” She cries, “Does this thing go all the way around my body?!” She begins to hyperventilate, and blood oozes from the wound. She stares up at Kite. “D-don’t just stand there!” She stammers, “Do something! G-get help!”

Kite holds up his hands. “Listen, I know this is traumatizing, but you’re dead. In fact, you’re a type of onryo called a teke-teke. What’s happening to you right now is actually completely normal.”

“NORMAL?!” Rin screeches. “I’M BLEEDING!”

“I know,” Kite says, looking like he would rather be anywhere else at the moment, “But there’s nothing I can do to stop it. All teke-teke’s bleed, it’s because of a curse carried through the lineage.”

“What are you talking about?” Rin cries.

Kite scoops a lantern from the ground. “Come with me, I’ll take you to someone who can give you more answers.”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MOVE?!” Rin demands.

Kite growls through clenched teeth, “Will you just take a moment to look at yourself?! Are you even in any pain?”

Rin is about to throw a complete and utter fit, but then her brain catches up to the situation. Kite said she was _dead_.

“Wait a minute,” She says, her body going cold, “I’m…dead?”

“ _Yes,_ ” Kite says, “According to my work papers, you were in a car accident. You were, um…well there’s no way to make this easy. You were stabbed with a guardrail. It cut your body in half.”

Rin is about to clap her hands over her mouth, then she remembers that they’re covered in blood. She falls forward on all fours and vomits. She barely registers Kite calling for help, and when there’s nothing left for Rin to throw up, she passes out.

 

Rin wakes up slowly, first becoming aware of something soft beneath her, then the smell of rubbing alcohol, then the sound of voices.

‘ _It was a dream,_ ’ she thinks. ‘ _I’m alive, I’m in a hospital._ ’ She opens her eyes and sees an ordinary looking ceiling, then she turns her head and sees a woman with bright blue wings coming out of her back.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Rin screams.

The woman jumps. “Good gods!” She cries, hand over her heart.

Rin sits up and lifts her shirt. A thick layer of gauze goes all the way around her torso.

“Am I dead?” Rin asks the winged woman.

The woman nods. “I’m afraid so, child.”

Rin covers her ears and screams. She screams until her throat burns, and then she cries.

Many people come to see Rin after that. Each of them are different, they describe themselves as onryo, faeries, witches, spirits, all kinds of unbelievable things. They all tell Rin that she died an unfair death, so the gods had her reborn into the underworld. They tell her about the legend of the teke-teke and how it states that all women who die from being cut in half become part of the lineage. They give her a book called “The Book of the Undead,” and Rin flips through it frantically, trying to get more answers, or to convince herself that she’s trapped in an elaborate dream, but days go by and she continues to bleed, and more creatures come to see her and talk to her, and she’s forced to accept that she is, in fact, dead.

Once she accepts that fact, Rin is told that it’s time for her to join the rest of the inhabitants of the underworld. She’s taken from the “hospital,” which is actually a half-way house for spirits like herself, who have a hard time accepting death, and brought to a small house in a bustling city. She’s given a map of the city and told to report to a school the next day, so she can be educated in the ways of the underworld. Once she’s left alone, Rin finds the one bedroom in the house, lays down on the bed, and falls asleep.

Rin doesn’t move from the bed for a long time. At first she rises to change the bandages around her waist, but after the third time she gives up on that, too. She can tell from the light that comes through the window that days have passed, but she doesn’t feel hungry. She sleeps for the most part, and when she’s awake she’s overcome with misery. She’s dead, doomed to bleed constantly for eternity, and she’s never going to see her brother, her best friend, ever again.

“Hello, is anyone here?”

Rin sits up, wiping her eyes. “Who are you?” She calls, her voice hoarse. She hasn’t spoken in days.

A young girl pokes her head into Rin’s bedroom, peering around the doorframe. “Your front door was open,” she says. “I don’t mean to intrude, but you didn’t show up for school and I just…” She edges into the open door, a flower pot clutched in her hands. “I’m Yuzu, I’m a dryad spirit, and I have power over plants. I’ve brought you a daffodil from my garden.”

Rin has never been given a flower before, and the act of kindness stuns her. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

Yuzu puts the flower pot on Rin’s bedside table. “You just have to water it a bit once a day, and let it sit in the window to get some light.” She rubs her arms. “I was born in the underworld, so I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through. But if you need anything…”

Rin sits up. There’s a bloodstain beneath her, she hasn’t bothered to change the bandages around her waist today, and she can only imagine how pathetic she must look. “Can you tell me how to get to the human world?”

Yuzu smiles. “You’re in luck, tomorrow is Obon. It’s the one day a year where we can go to the human world. I can help you get there, it’s a bit tricky the first time you go.”

Rin leaps to her feet. “Really? You will?”

“Totally,” Yuzu says. “What is it you want from the human world?”

Rin hardly dares to hope. “I had a brother, he wasn’t my real brother, but we once shared a foster home and we kept in touch. I want to see if he’s okay.”

Yuzu nods. “Okay, you can do that.” She begins to explain what it takes to go to the human world, but Rin barely hears her over the ringing in her own ears. She’s suddenly not feeling so great, and after a moment she slumps over, hands on her head.

“Oh my gods!” Yuzu cries. “Look at you, you’re a waif! Don’t move—okay you can’t really move, but just hang on, I’m going to get help!”

Rin closes her eyes, mumbling that she’ll be okay in a minute. She hears Yuzu dash out of the room, and a while later she hears Yuzu’s voice again, ordering someone to start brewing tea. Rin opens her eyes in time to see Yuzu walk into her bedroom, her arms laden with gauze.

“I know you’re dead,” Yuzu says, “But it can’t be good for you to lie in all that blood.”

She drops the gauze on the bed and holds her hands over Rin’s midsection. She frowns in concentration, mumbles under her breath for a few minutes, then sighs, “It’s no use.”

“What isn’t?” Rin asks.

“I tried to use a spell to get the blood out of your wrappings, I’m beginning to suspect that the teke-teke curse extends to keep the blood within anything that’s on your body. The spell did work on the mattress, though.”

Rin looks down at herself and sees that Yuzu is right—the blood-soaked mattress is clean.

“Can you sit up?” Yuzu asks.

Rin pushes herself up and the room spins around her. She whimpers and closes her eyes.

“You have to eat,” Yuzu says as she begins to unwrap Rin’s bandages. “I know you’re dead, but if you don’t eat you’ll get weaker and weaker, until you…well you won’t disappear, but you’ll be like a ghost from the stories you’re used to hearing. You’ll be transparent, you’ll hardly be able to speak, and eventually you won’t be able to move.”

Rin watches Yuzu wrap her wound in clean bandages. “What’s the point?” She mutters. “I can’t even keep myself from bleeding when I’m not moving at all.”

“Oh, poor you,” A new voice snaps. Rin looks up and sees a girl around Yuzu’s age standing in her doorway, a cup of tea in her hands and a scowl on her face. “So you bleed, so what?”

“Serena, have some _tact_ ,” Yuzu scolds.

“I don’t do tact,” Serena says. She puts the teacup down on Rin’s bedside table and stands with her arms crossed. “Plenty of ghosts bleed. It doesn’t mean you’re a broken spirit, or that there’s something wrong with you. If anything bleeding gives you an edge. All those horror stories you heard in the human world came from somewhere. You can cause chaos! You can scare the daylights out of people, and you can use that to your advantage. Sure, ghosts can’t solve all the problems in the world, but think of all the fun you could have roaming the streets and scaring bad people away from innocent kids. Or scaring the crap out of annoying teenagers. You have a whole new world of possibilities open to you. Bleeding won’t stop you, it’s annoying but it won’t kill you. Have you bothered to learn anything about the underworld since you got here?”

Rin’s head is spinning, she’s confused, a little ticked off, and also a little…guilty?

“I don’t…” Rin says, but she can’t think of anything else to say.

“For crying out loud, Serena!” Yuzu explodes, “Can’t you see that she’s about to faint? Can you wait to challenge her world view until after she’s recovered a little bit?” Yuzu takes Rin’s hand and puts the teacup in her palm. Rin takes a sip of the tea, unsure of what else to do, and the flavor explodes over her tongue. She’s never tasted anything so good, and she finishes it in mere seconds. When she lowers the teacup, she sees that Serena suddenly has a teapot in her hands.

“How did you do that?” Rin asks. “You weren’t holding that before, were you?”

Serena grins and refills Rin’s cup. “I wasn’t. I used magic to bring it here. You can learn it too, now.”

“I can?” Rin asks.

“Well, yeah,” Serena says, “As soon as you get your butt in school.”

Rin is more confused than ever. “But I’m a ghost.”

“All underworld spirits have some degree of magical abilities,” Yuzu says. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”

Rin shakes her head.

“Oh my gods!” Serena cries, “No wonder you’ve been lying around like a lump! This is practically a crime! Here’s one of the most feared spirits in all the underworld, and she doesn’t even know what she’s capable of! Okay, we gotta get you mad like, now.”

“Serena!” Yuzu cries.

“She’s a teke-teke!” Serena says. “Come on, finish your tea and get up, let’s see what you’ve got.”

So Rin downs the rest of her tea and gets to her feet. She wobbles for a moment, her legs unsteady after days of lying down, but she soon regains her balance and follows Serena out of the house, with Yuzu trailing behind them, the daffodil she brought clutched in her hands once more.

Serena stops abruptly only a few steps from Rin’s house. “Okay,” Serena says, staring intently at Rin, “People say that the shriek of a teke-teke can break glass. So let me hear you scream.”

“Ah?” Rin says.

Serena rolls her eyes and grabs Rin’s shoulders. “C’mon, you’ve gotta be furious! Aren’t you pissed that you’re bleeding? The original teke-teke was so mad about the bleeding that she unleashed a curse so no one would ever forget her! Feel your anger, let it boil over, and then scream it out!”

So Rin focuses on how she felt when she first saw herself bleeding, and how nobody has answered her biggest questions yet, and how they dumped her in a house and left her alone and didn’t bother to tell her that she had magic…

Rin sees red. She hears wind whistling in her ears. Her body shakes. She opens her mouth and shrieks as loudly as she can. And as she screams, she feels something burst inside of her, and she flings her arms out, feeling like it’s physically erupting from her body. Rin hears a deafening shatter, and she stops screaming. All the windows in her new home have broken, and glass comes pouring from the frames and shatters even more as it hits the ground.

Serena lets out a whoop loud enough to make Rin jump. Rin turns around and sees Serena and Yuzu grinning and jumping up and down.

“Look at you!” Serena screams, “Dang girl, and that was without any training at all!”

Yuzu points at the house next door. “You even broke the windows over there!”

And it’s true, the windows in both houses bordering Rin’s have spider-webbed cracks crossing the panels.

“Oh, wow,” Rin gasps. She looks around. “I did all this?”

“And you can do way more than that, too!” Serena says. Then she laughs, “You can even learn to fix it, here watch…” She hands Rin the daffodil and waves her hands. At once all the glass is fixed, even the glass that turned to powder from impact.

“Incredible,” Rin mutters. She feels something brush her hand and looks down. The leaves on the daffodil are brushing the back of her hands.

“Aww, it likes you,” Yuzu says. “It’s happy that you found yourself.”

Rin has to laugh. She can’t believe that she’s been dead for over a week now, and just in the last hour she’s met two spirits, caused what would have been thousands of dollars’ worth of damage in the human world, and she’s apparently made friends with a flower. Maybe this whole being dead thing won’t be so bad after all, especially if Serena and Yuzu can help her find her brother.


	3. Wishing You Could Just Awaken

“Do you know what I find complete and utter bullshit?” Rin asks.

Serena laughs. “Um, everything?”

“Well, yeah,” Rin admits, “But no, it’s that of all the things that have been lost to history, the name of the original Teke-Teke is one of them.”

“But she changed her name,” Yuzu says. “She named herself. Maybe she didn’t want anyone using her old name.”

“Oh please,” Rin says, “Like anyone actually wants to be called teke-teke until the end of time. And do you know how hard it makes her to find? If I wander the earth screaming ‘TEKE-TEKE’ everywhere I go, I doubt I’ll find her. I can’t ask anyone if they’ve seen her, either, since we have no idea what she looked like. Which is also complete and utter bullshit.”

“Is this another of your conspiracy theories?” Serena asks.

“Hey, don’t knock my conspiracies,” Rin says. “You know at least half of them are right.”

One of Rin’s favorite conspiracy theories is that the gods fudged the records about the first Teke-teke, making it look like she was more vengeful than she really was. Rin finds it hard to believe that the original Teke-teke wanted all those in her lineage to bleed constantly just so she would feel better about herself. But it’s one of the many things that Rin will never be able to prove until she tracks down the progenitor of her lineage. Rin has read the Book of the Undead cover to cover _twice_ since she got to the underworld. For such a powerful onryo, there’s little information about the teke-teke.

Rin looks at the giant clock in the back of the room. “Historian is late,” she says.

Serena pulls a nail file from her bag and starts to shape her pinky nail into a point. “Maybe he finally quit,” she says. “You know, since you keep bothering him.”

And indeed, Rin has pestered the history teacher about the teke-teke’s history every day since she started coming to this gods-forsaken parody of a high school. Though he hasn’t given Rin answers, he’s still her favorite professor, because he’s good-natured about it, and has actually let slip a lot of things Rin isn’t supposed to know. Still, Rin almost hopes he has quit. Maybe he’ll be replaced by someone who is afraid of her and who she can bully into giving answers. Alas, the Historian shows up soon after, and he’s not alone; a new student is with him.

‘ _She’s cute,_ ’ Rin thinks to herself. She’s clearly a human, or a former human, and unlike many newly dead, there’s nothing confused or hesitant about her. This girl is angry. Rin likes it.

The Historian claps his hands. “Class, settle down. I would like for you to meet Kurosaki Ruri. She’s part of the Banchō Sarayashiki lineage.”

Ruri lifts her head and stands ramrod straight, as if daring anyone to pity her.

“Now, let’s all gather around,” The Historian says, waving hands about, “And tell Ruri a little bit about who you all are.”

As the class begins to explain what they are, and how they died or where they were born, Ruri’s defiance seems to waver. Rin introduces herself last. She lifts her shirt slightly to show her bandages, and smirks as the class collectively flinches.

“I’m Rin, part of the teke-teke lineage,” Rin says as Ruri stares at her with wide eyes. “I died from being sliced in half during a car accident. Very gruesome. I bleed constantly, and in the human world my body falls apart at the drop of a hat. It doesn’t hurt, which I suppose is a blessing.” She drops her shirt. “If you ever want to talk about how unfair the underworld is, chances are I’m as angry about it as you are.”

“Thank you, Rin,” The Historian says firmly, “Because another conspiracy theorist is exactly what this school needs.” But he winks at her, so Rin knows he’s not serious.

Rin’s introduction seems to have struck a chord with the new girl, because she takes the empty seat on the other side of Rin. The Historian lectures the class on the kitsune spirits, a story Rin is already familiar with, so she barely pays attention. A piece of paper lands on her desk and she glances down at it.

‘ _Do you know how to find a human?_ ’

Rin glances at Ruri. Her face is schooled into a neutral expression, but her eyes are hopeful.

Rin writes back, ‘ _Dead or alive?_ ’

Ruri bites her lip. “I don’t know,” she whispers.

When the Historian dismisses the class, Rin holds her hand out to Ruri. “Who did you leave behind?”

Ruri gazes distrustfully at Rin’s hand. “My brother.”

Rin drops her hand. “I know the feeling,” she says quietly. “I had a brother, too.” Sort of, Yugo wasn’t her real brother, but that’s a story for another day.

Ruri asks, “What happened to him after you died? Did you find him?”

So much for it being a story for another day. “Well…he’s in the human world, he wasn’t with me when I died. I was lucky, I died right before Obon, so I got to back to the human world and look for him.”

“Obon?” Ruri echoes.

“Oh boy,” says Serena, hooking her chin over Rin’s shoulder. “You really are new.”

Rin elbows Serena in the gut. “Go make out with Yuzu,” she says. She smiles sweetly at Ruri. “Never mind her, she’s been breathing moon air for too long. Obon is the festival of the ghosts, it’s the one day a year that those of us in the underworld can freely cross to the human world and expect to come back. If you leave on any other day of the year, you can’t come back to the underworld.”

“Better get a move on, ladies,” the Historian calls from the front of the classroom. “Don’t want to be late for Sorcery.”

Rin suddenly gets an idea. She dashes up to Historian and snatches his briefcase from the floor before he can grab it. “Sir, Ruri didn’t even know about Obon,” she whines, holding the briefcase behind her back. “Isn’t that just terrible? Was she just dumped down here? I think someone ought to show her around, explain things to her. Do we really want this new undead spirit trying to wield magic?”

Historian sighs. “Rin, you are a monster.”

Rin smiles brightly and hands back the briefcase. Historian writes up a pass for Rin and Ruri, giving them permission to go to the library for the day.

“What was that all about?” Ruri asks as she and Rin leave the classroom.

Rin holds out her arm, and after a brief hesitation, Ruri takes it.  “We’re going to have a little chat,” Rin says.

“The pass says library, how can we talk in the library?” Ruri asks.

Rin laughs. “This is no human world library.”

The school’s library is stocked with all kinds of books—written by humans, undead, gods and goddesses, any creature imaginable, really, and the books are not ordinary by any means.

Ruri stops dead in her tracks at the library entrance. “What the fuck,” she whispers.

Rin has to laugh. She remembers the first time she walked into this place and saw a teacher chasing a winged book around the room, screaming at it to behave. Rin has seen books explode, spout water, grow wings, and cough clouds of dust into their reader’s faces. She has also seen books come to life, pages flying together to form a humanoid figure who can speak despite lacking a mouth, and who will lecture anyone in the vicinity.

“Hello, Merlin,” Rin says, waving to the figure across the room.

The book stops speaking and waves to Rin. Upon spotting Ruri, the magician’s book gasps. “A new student! Have you by chance heard the incredible yet true story of—”

“Sorry, Merlin,” Rin says, pulling Ruri along, “But we have official business to take care of.”

The book shrugs. “Your loss.” He goes back to his lecture—he’s standing in front of a mirror, probably conjured by a senior student who couldn’t bear to listen to the enchanted book. For a creature full of knowledge, the books can be quite easily fooled.

Rin pulls Ruri down the stacks of shelves, and stops in a section of herbology books. “No one will bother us here,” she says, sitting on the floor. Ruri sits across from Rin, her expression guarded once more.

“So,” Rin says, “You want to find your brother, but you don’t know if he’s dead or not?”

Ruri looks away. “He must be dead,” she says quietly. “I saw…the gods showed me how I died. They showed me…they let me watch for a while. I saw Shun…the house burned down, with both of us in it. He couldn’t have survived.”

Rin’s heart sinks. “Who brought you here, which Kasha?”

“He said his name was Kite,” Ruri says. “I asked, but he said he couldn’t tell me anything.”

“That generally means he hasn’t seen the person you looked for,” Rin says. “But there are other Kasha your brother might have met.” She hesitates. “Your brother…was he angry when he died?”

“I don’t know,” Ruri says. “Does it matter?”

“Sometimes,” Rin says. “If the person is angry enough, sometimes the gods can’t reach them, can’t make them leave the earth.”

Ruri looks at her hands, folded in her lap. “Shun, you idiot,” she mutters. Her shoulders shake, and Rin realizes that Ruri is crying. Rin searches her pockets and finds a clean piece of gauze. She waits for Ruri to look up, and then she hands it to her.

Ruri takes the gauze and wipes her eyes, then she gasps. “Rin, you’re…”

Rin looks down at herself. Blood has soaked through her shirt, again. “MOTHER FUCKER,” she cries, and a nearby book unleashes a cloud of dust. Rin hisses at the book and it cowers.

Ruri begins to giggle, and she hastily covers it with a cough. “I’m sorry,” she says, covering her mouth.

“It’s fine,” Rin says, waving her hand. “I’m glad to see you smiling.”

Ruri sniffles and looks down at the piece of gauze in her hand. “Did you need this?”

Rin opens her backpack and shows Ruri the bulging mountain of gauze inside. “Do you mind if I just change it here? I don’t feel like walking to the bathroom.”

“Should I leave?” Ruri asks.

“Up to you,” Rin says, stripping off her bloody shirt. She begins to unwind the soaked gauze, tossing it aside, heedless of where it lands. “Down here, you can’t even tell that there’s anything wrong with me, aside from the blood,” Rin says as the last of the gauze falls away. The cut that surrounds her body looks shallow and small. “Once I’m in the human world…well, that’s when things get interesting.”

“And it really doesn’t hurt?” Ruri asks.

Rin begins to wrap gauze around her waist. “It didn’t even hurt when I died,” she says. “I know I was run through with a guardrail, it speared right through me, but I don’t remember it at all. Even falling apart in the human world is painless. It’s like I’m numb.”

“I thought the teke-teke died in a train accident,” Ruri says.

So Rin tells her all about the teke-teke lineage, and when she finishes wrapping herself in gauze, she digs her Book of the Undead out from the bottom of the gauze mountain and shows Ruri the entry. She tells Ruri about her conspiracy theories, about her desire to find the first teke-teke, and how the Historian has let it slip that the first teke-teke is most certainly not in the underworld anymore.

“He’s forbidden to tell us a lot of things,” Rin says, flipping through the pages of her book, “The book never says out right that she left the underworld, I mean I suspected she did, but the fact is that there’s a lot of places to hide in the underworld, especially if you don’t want to be found.” She turns the book towards Ruri. “This is the entry on your lineage. It’s short, but that’s because they go into a lot of detail about the more famous spirits.”

Ruri places her hand on the page. “This is surreal.”

Rin nods. “Yeah, it really is. I wish I could say you get used to it. Some things don’t bother you after a while. Some things you just learn to tune out. But some things you never stop being pissed off about, or get used to, or…stop missing.”

Ruri sighs. “I want to find my brother. I want to go back to the human world.”

“I understand the feeling,” Rin says. “But…you might want to hold off. The longer you stay here, the stronger you get. Obon is in two months. Think you can wait that long? If not, maybe I can go bully the gods into giving us some info.”

“Would you really try?” Ruri asks.

“I know what it’s like to miss a brother,” Rin says. “So yeah, I would. But I make no promises.”

“Did you find your brother?” Ruri asks.

“I did,” Rin says. “He’s…um…well it turns out my brother is a chimera.”

“Isn’t that a monster?” Ruri asks.

“No, he’s…” Rin sighs. “He’s one body with four souls—Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri. My foster brother was Yugo. They like…take turns inhabiting the body. I don’t know what the deal is with that, how they decide who gets to be in control. But Yugo was the one I spent most of my time with, apparently.”

Ruri looks astounded. “This is unbelievable.”

“Tell me about it,” Rin says. “That’s why I started going to school, I wanted all kinds of answers. Yuzu and Serena had never seen anything like Yugo, or Yuya, he was Yuya when we met him. But they were nice to him, and nice to me, and when I started school they kind of…kept me in line. I can be quite a bitch when I’m angry, and that was especially true in the beginning when I had no control and my powers could literally destroy things. They also helped me realize that I could use my powers for good.”

“But you’re dead,” Ruri says. “What can you do?”

Rin smiles and hopes she doesn’t look too creepy. “I can scare the daylights out of people. I can make them go crazy. I can find horrible people, who do horrible things to girls like me, and like you, and I can drive them to an early grave. You could do that too someday if you learn to control your power. We both come from a strong lineage, and we can both be ghosts that inspire terrifying urban legends someday.”

That gets Ruri’s attention. “You mean I can get revenge for my death? I can go after the people who killed me?”

“You sure can,” Rin says. “And I’d be happy to help you do it. Anything for a fellow foster kid-turned vengeful ghost.”

“When did you say obon was?” Ruri asks.

“Two months,” Rin says.

Ruri takes a deep breath. “Do you think that in two months, I can be strong enough to scare the shit out of the people who killed me?”

Rin chuckles. “You’ll be plenty strong enough. You won’t be able to hurt them, but it sounds like the mere sight of you should be enough to make them afraid. And in two months, you’ll be able to control who in the human world can see you, and when they can.”

“Then I’ll stay here until then, at least,” Ruri says. “Something tells me that my brother is following after them as we speak. I’m sure if I can find them, I’ll find him.”

“Well, tracking down a living human is a lot easier than finding a dead one,” Rin says, “So we’ll be able to find those bastards with no problem.”

Ruri smiles, and she looks relieved. “Thank you. You’re the most helpful person I’ve met down here.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Rin says. She checks her watch. “We could probably skip out on the rest of the school day, I know this is a lot to take in.” She looks up. “Are you living alone right now?”

Ruri nods.

“Do you want to come to my place?” Rin asks, going out on a limb. “I live alone and I’ve got a spare bedroom. I offer remember how hard it was to adjust in the beginning. I still hate it, half the time I end up at Serena and Yuzu’s place because I hate to be alone, and I don’t go over as often as I want to because, you know, they’re dating and I would like to give them space…”

“Rin,” Ruri interrupts, “I’m very grateful for the offer. And I accept,” she says with a smile.

Rin has to hold herself back from jumping with joy. “Alrighty, then. Let’s go get your stuff.”

They leave the school together, passing several open classroom doors and teachers along the way.

“Why don’t they stop us from leaving?” Ruri asks.

“They can’t,” Rin says. “Technically, no one can force us to be here, but not completing the course means we’ll never get to do anything really. Sometimes people spend years goofing off, but eventually they realize that eternity is a long time to spend doing nothing.”

Ruri hugs her backpack to her chest. “I wonder what Shun is doing.”

Rin looks up to the sky. She guesses that Ruri’s brother is looking for her, but she doesn’t want to upset Ruri by saying that, since Ruri knows full well Shun will never guess where she is.

They get Ruri’s few belongings from her house. The undead have no personal items when they first come to the underworld, other than what was on them when they died, and Ruri hasn’t been here long enough to collect much.

Rin is another story, and she’s only too aware of that as she takes Ruri to her house and leads her inside.

“Excuse the mess,” Rin says sheepishly as she looks around the kitchen. She has some kind of vine plant from Yuzu, and it’s taken over the kitchen counter, her teacup collection is spread out on the table because she was trying to organize it, and of course there’s all the gauze. Hundreds of boxes filled with gauze litter the house. Some of the boxes are empty, but Rin’s too lazy to ever sort through them and throw away the empty ones.

“It’s cute,” Ruri says softly. “I love your plant.”

“Yuzu gave it to me,” Rin says, poking a leaf. “I’ve been meaning to trim it.”

The plant’s many stems and leaves shudder at those words, and it sounds like a hiss. Rin hisses back.

Ruri giggles. “You do that a lot.”

“It’s my response to everything that annoys me,” Rin says with a shrug. “Must be the teke-teke in me.”

“And the tea cups?” Ruri asks, looking at them.

“A hobby I had when I was human,” Rin explains. “I bounced from foster home to foster home, and I couldn’t have many things, but I had a few teacups.” She picks one up from the table—porcelain with a purple and blue glaze. “This one was the only one I managed to keep in my fourteen years of human life, it’s my favorite. Last time I saw Yugo, he left it on my grave, and it became an offering, and I was able to take it back here with me.”

Ruri gasps. “You were fourteen?”

Rin nods and sets the cup back down. “Just turned a few months before I died, so this coming Obon is my fourth since I died. I would be seventeen this year if I was still alive. How old are you?”

“Sixteen,” Ruri says. “You don’t look fourteen.”

“No,” Rin agrees. “None of us look our dying age, but those changes happen over time.”

“Will Shun recognize me when he sees me?” Ruri asks.

“Of course,” Rin assures. “He loves you, he’ll always recognize you.”

Ruri looks upset, so Rin offers to show her to the bedroom. The spare room is the one place Rin never kept anything, because she had been warned that she could get a roommate if another teke-teke came along. She’s sure she’ll have to file some kind of paperwork if Ruri stays here permanently, but that’s a job for another time. She shows Ruri the bathroom and tells her that she can have anything in the fridge, and then leaves Ruri alone.

Ruri stays in her room for the rest of the day, and Rin goes about her day as though Ruri isn’t there. The few times she passes the bedroom she hears muffled crying, but remembering how she felt when she had just died, Rin decides to leave Ruri alone.

That night Rin is in her own room, about to fall asleep when she hears a scream. She runs from her room and into Ruri’s and flips on the light. Ruri is sitting up, her eyes fixed on an empty spot on the wall, and she’s shaking her head and crying.

“Ruri, it was a dream,” Rn says, her throat tight with tears. She knows that look, she’s seen it on girls and boys before. “It’s over.”

Ruri seems to give herself a shake. She bows her head and cries, but the raw panic has left her body.

Rin sits next to her on the bed, a safe distance away, in case Ruri doesn’t want to be touched. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Ruri sniffles and wipes her eyes. “We were in the home for a month. The old man…he would watch me. I locked my door at night but I told Shun he didn’t have to stay with me. I don’t know if they drugged us with something in our food, I woke up and I was tied to the bed. The door was broken open, I didn’t even hear it. He was there and…and I realized I was…my clothes…”

Ruri shudders. Rin holds out her hand, and Ruri squeezes it. She takes a deep breath. “After he was done, his wife came in. She slapped me and called me a slut. I was so angry…I tried to bite her, I had been fighting all night and finally one of the ropes holding me back snapped. But I was too weak to do anything and I was still pretty immobilized. She got a pillow and held it over my face. I clawed at her but I blacked out. Then I woke up in a cave. The gods showed me that after I died, they untied me and Shun—he had already died, they didn’t show me how—and they set the house on fire. Made it look like an accident.”

“Those people need to burn,” Rin says, anger bubbling under her skin, making her nails sharpen to points. “And I’m going to make sure you get to see it happen, as soon as we find your brother.”

Ruri sniffles. “I don’t even care anymore. I just want my brother back.” She looks up at Rin with tears clinging to her eyelashes. “Did you have nightmares too, after you died?”

Rin bites her lip and nods. “I did.”

“Does it get better?”

Rin gulps. She can’t bring herself to lie and say that it does get better. For Rin, it hasn’t really, not yet. “You know what, how about I stay with you until you fall asleep?”

Ruri smiles. “Would you mind?”

“Not at all,” Rin promises.

She ends up falling asleep in Ruri’s bed, but Ruri doesn’t seem to mind. Especially considering that the next night, she asks Rin to stay with her again, and again the following night. In the end, Rin and Ruri end up sharing a bed every night until Obon.


	4. Might Just Bite

The Onibi drop Serena, Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri in the middle of an intersection in a busy city. Rin’s feet touch the ground and she wobbles, feeling the curse take hold of her body. But she got smart and wore a corset, so she doesn’t fall apart right away, at least.

“Where are we?” Yuzu asks.

“Heartland city,” Ruri says, raising her voice over the sounds of honking horns.

Rin looks around and sees a tall spire rising over the skyline. “It’s pretty,” she says. “I’ve never been here before.”

Ruri looks around, her eyes full of tears. “I missed it so much.”

Over the past few months, Ruri has thrown herself into her education. By day she keeps herself composed, but she cries herself to sleep each night in Rin’s arms. Rin hopes to all the gods she knows that they find Shun tonight.

Serena reaches inside her jacket and takes out a potion bottle filled with a glowing, white liquid. Supposedly the liquid, when poured out, will turn into a circular light that will guide them to the human that Ruri tells it to track.

“You gonna be okay?” Serena asks Rin.

Rin shrugs and hops a few times. She unbalances and her torso suddenly lurches, falls right out of the corset, and the top half of her body lands on the ground while her legs continue to stand.

“FUCKING HELL,” Rin cries, pushing herself up. “Somebody put me back together!”

Serena and Yuzu grab hold of Rin’s arms and hoist her torso back onto her body.

“Give it a few more years,” Yuzu says gently, “It’ll get better.”

Rin grumbles, and she says tiredly, “You all go on without me, I’ll slow you down.”

Ruri bites her lip. “But Rin…I don’t think I can do this without you.”

Not for the first time, Rin curses the cursed sword that caused all this mess to happen to her kind.

“…Carry her,” Yuzu says.

“Huh?” Rin asks.

Serena rolls her eyes. “She said someone should carry you, genius.”

“Like, piggy back?” Rin asks.

“Yes!” Ruri says, “That should work! Here, Rin, get on my back.”

Yuzu looks surprised. “I would—,” She starts, but Serena slaps her hand over Yuzu’s mouth.

Rin hopes she’s not blushing as she wraps her arms around Ruri’s neck. Ruri cups her hands around Rin’s thighs, holding her steady, and yep, Rin’s definitely blushing now.

“Am I too heavy?” Rin asks.

“You’re light as a feather!” Ruri says, surprised.

“You’re both powerful spirits,” Serena says, “You can both do amazing things in this world, including carry a fellow spirit long distances. Or short ones, depending on how this goes. Ready to find out?”

Ruri nods. Serena upends the potion bottle, and Ruri says the name of the man who killed her. The liquid spins into a glowing orb and begins to float. Ruri takes off after it, and Rin holds on for the ride.

The ball of light leads them to an apartment complex, up several flights of stairs, and then down a hallway, where it floats through a door. Ruri stops in front of the door, and Rin can feel her shaking.

“Shun?” Ruri calls quietly, “Are you here?”

There’s a moment of silence. Rin climbs off Ruri’s back and moves away, and the second she does a boy comes running through the door and straight into Ruri.

“It’s you!” The boy cries, throwing his arms around her, “It’s really you!”

Ruri hugs him back and collapses, sobbing hysterically. Rin sighs in relief—they’ve found Shun.

“How did you find me?” Shun asks, still hugging Ruri.

“I found _them_ ,” Ruri says, “I knew you would be watching them.”

Shun leans back and puts his hands on Ruri’s shoulders. “What happened to you?” He asks. “I looked for you…” his voice breaks and he starts crying again.

Ruri explains the underworld to him, how she went there and had to wait to leave, and she introduces Shun to Rin, Yuzu, and Serena. Shun thanks them for taking care of his sister.

“Don’t thank us yet,” Rin says, “We haven’t given you the bad news yet.”

“Bad news?” Shun asks.

Rin takes a deep breath. “I told Ruri this, and you should know. The longer she stays in the underworld, the more powerful she’ll become. Powerful enough to get revenge on the people you’ve been stalking.”

Shun looks at Ruri. “You’re not staying?”

“I just don’t know,” Ruri says, wringing her hands. “Can’t you come with me?”

Shun’s expression darkens. “No, I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Yuzu echoes, “Why not?”

Shun shrugs. “I’ve been here too long, I’m too weak. I never went to the underworld, I was too angry when I died. If I tried to go down there, I’d never survive the journey.”

“How do you know that?” Rin asks.

Shun turns to Ruri. “You’ll never believe it, but I met some people, humans who could see ghosts, and they took me to someone they thought could help. It was Yuto.”

“Yuto?!” Ruri cries.

The name sounds familiar to Rin, but she can’t remember why.

“We know Yuto!” Serena says, “He’s one of the spirits that lives in Yuya’s body, with Rin’s brother Yugo and that other guy, Yuri.”

Ruri gapes at her. “What?!”

“It’s true,” Shun says, “That’s the unbelievable part. There’s four spirits sharing one body, and Yuto is one of them.”

“How do you know Yuto?” Yuzu asks.

“He was once our foster brother,” Ruri says. “Can you take us to him?”

“You don’t want to go inside?” Rin asks, gesturing to the apartment.

Ruri shakes her head. “I thought I could do it, but I just can’t face them.”

Rin stares at the door. “I can,” she says quietly. “Do you mind?”

Ruri blinks at her. “I…guess not?”

“What are you talking about?” Shun asks.

Rin cracks her knuckles. “I told Ruri that I’d show her how to get a little revenge, but I can do it on my own. I can give them a good scare.” She waves her hand at the others. “You go on to Yugo and the rest, I’ll catch up. I’ve got some haunting to do.”

Ruri hesitates, then she hugs Rin tightly. “Be careful,” She pleads, “They’re monsters.”

Rin smiles, knowing her teeth are pointed. “But I’m a much scarier monster.”

When Ruri, Shun, Yuzu, and Serena leave, Rin undoes her corset and leaves her legs in the hallway. She drags her torso through the door, and does what she does best.

The humans are watching TV, totally unsuspecting of the ghoul that now watches them. Rin moans, and the humans jump. She holds back a laugh as she begins to drag herself across the floor. Though she comes from a powerful lineage, Rin is still a young spirit, and the humans can’t see her, but they can see the evidence that she leaves behind; gouges that her nails leave in the wood as she drags herself, and bloodstains that her body leaves in the carpet. The evidence is temporary, it’ll be gone when Rin returns to the underworld, but the humans don’t know that. They scrub the carpet and Rin drags herself back across it. She rips jagged tears in the sofa and curtains, and she wails and howls as best she can. She only leaves when the woman sheds tears and tries to leave, only held back by the man shouting that they need to clean it up.

Rin vows to come back next years when she’s stronger. Maybe by then, she’ll be able to pop up behind them when they look in mirrors. Now that will be scary.

 

Rin doesn’t need a potion to know where her friends have gone to—they meet Yugo in the same place each year, in a park that he and Rin always loved to go to. As soon as Rin is within sight of the group, Yugo lets out a shout of joy and races to meet her. They hug, and Yugo wrinkles his nose.

“Why are you bloodier than usual?” He asks.

Rin smiles, her teeth still pointed. “Because I’ve been haunting.”

Yugo laughs and high fives her. “Good for you! I see you’ve met Shun.”

“And his sister,” Rin says, looking over Yugo’s shoulder at Ruri. She has one arm around Shun’s waist and another linked with Yuto’s. “Is it selfish of me to want her to come back?”

“It is if you just want her for yourself,” Yugo says.

“That’s only part of the reason,” Rin says. “She could be so much more than what she is now, she could be fearsome and powerful, but only if she learns to be.”

Yugo sighs. “It wasn’t always like this.”

“How would you know?” Rin asks.

“I told you,” he says, pinching her arm, “I lived in the underworld.”

“But for how long?” Rin presses.

Yugo winks. “Someday I’ll tell you.”

Yugo says that about a lot of things—like why he shares one human body with four spirits, and why he had sole control of the body for the years he and Rin spent in the same foster home. Rin does know that among the four spirits, Yugo is not the one in charge, that would be Yuri. He’s always scared Rin a bit, even now. Yuri is quiet and solitary, speaking only to cut someone off from saying something they shouldn’t, as he seems to be doing to Yuto.

Rin walks closer as Ruri pleads with Yuto. “Help me decide!” She cries.

Yuto takes Ruri’s hand in both of his own. “I can’t do that,” he says gently, “Only you can make that choice.”

Ruri sobs, “But I don’t know what to do! I thought I would know when I got here, but I’m even more confused!”

Rin goes into protective mode. “Ruri, what happened?”

Ruri sniffles and turns away from Rin. “I just…I don’t know what I should do,” she says. “If I should go back to the Underworld or stay here with my brother.”

“I’ll support you no matter what,” Shun says, “I want you to be happy.”

“I’ll never be happy!” Ruri wails, “Not if I can’t be with you, and not if I can’t face the people that did this to us!” She backs away from Yuto and Shun, her arms wrapped around herself. “I don’t know what I’m doing…I don’t know how I can make this choice!”

She continues to cry, and Yuya takes a step towards her, but Yuri gets to her first.

“It’s a terrible thing to die the way you did,” Yuri says, handing Ruri a tissue. She blots her eyes and he continues, “There’s a reason the Broken Trust lineage is as powerful as it is—trust is such an easy thing to break.”

Ruri sniffles. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“Sort of,” Yuri says. “I know what it’s like to die the way you did, and I know what it’s like to want revenge. The difference between you and I is that I’ve never trusted anyone aside from these three. But I’ve been around long enough to be reminded why I am that way.”

Ruri gulps. “Are you looking for revenge, too?”

“I am,” Yuri says, his eyes fierce.

“How are you not scared?” Ruri asks.

“Because I know I’m more powerful than my monster,” Yuri says. “I was at a disadvantage when I was attacked, but I’m not anymore. I’m ancient, stronger than any force on this planet, and I will rip that thing limb from limb when I see it.”

Rin shivers at the tone Yuri’s voice takes on. Ruri looks captivated.

“You’re not like me,” Yuri says. “But you can be pretty powerful in your own right.”

“By leaving my brother,” Ruri says bitterly.

Yuri flinches, and Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo look ashamed.

“What?” Rin asks, looking at Yugo. “It’s not like that’s your fault.”

Yugo opens his mouth and Yuri hisses. Yugo shrinks back.

Rin turns on Yuri. “What’s your problem?!”

Yuri keeps his eyes on Yugo. “It isn’t our fault,” he says to Yugo, “We couldn’t have known.”

“Known what?!” Rin asks.

Yuzu suddenly gasps, her hands flying to her mouth. “Oh my gods,” she whispers.

Serena looks momentarily lost, then apparently she comes to the same realization Yuzu has, and her face goes white. “You’re…it’s you.”

Rin stomps her foot. “Someone explain things!” She turns to Shun. “Do you know?!”

Shun shakes his head, hands in front of him. “I swear, I don’t.”

Yuri sighs. “I suppose the cat’s out of the bag, as they say.” He looks at Rin. “Have you heard of the Gods of Chaos?”

Rin shakes her head. “Not that I can remember.”

Yuri smiles. “They used to rule the Underworld. They were the most powerful beings in any world, so powerful that they needed to be reminded of what it was like to live under their rule. And so only three of them ever ruled the Underworld at one time, while the fourth spent a human lifetime on Earth, being reminded of what it meant to be helpless.” Yuri’s face darkens. “Too helpless.”

Rin gapes. “You’re gods?!”

“ _Were,_ ” Yugo says. “When we left the Underworld, we had no idea how long we’d be gone for. We left it to be ruled by people we thought we could trust, I guess we were mistaken. Things have clearly gone to hell. I doubt we have the right to be called Gods.”

“Oh, we have that right,” Yuri says. “We always have been gods, and we always will be. If this experience has taught us anything, it’s that we have been living under other people’s thumbs for too long. We can rule just fine on our own, and we will go back to that, once we rid the universe of this great evil.”

“What great evil?” Ruri asks.

“A terrible monster,” Yuri says, “One that I met in my human form. It brutalized me, and I was not alone. It is it a creation of the Underworld, an ancient being, one that camouflages itself in this world and preys on humans. Getting rid of it is our sole mission for now, once we have vanquished it, all worlds will be safer, and we can return to the Underworld.”

“What happens then?” Yuzu asks faintly.

Yuya answers. “Things will go back to how they used to be.”

“Used to be?” Rin says, “What on earth changed?”

“A lot,” Yugo says quietly. “Spirits used to be able to cross between the worlds more freely. The newly dead were welcomed instead of controlled. Schools were optional, for those who wanted to learn more, not essential for surviving in the underworld. Now spirits are corralled in one place, told what to think, and how to interact with the world around them, and limited as to when they can leave. Those in charge don’t want spirits to experience the human world and what it has to offer, how different it is.”

Yuto hisses, “Those same beings forced us to live apart in the human world because they thought it would weaken us. Instead we saw how the living adapted and tried to bring progress to the Underworld. I wouldn’t be surprised if our own counsel created the evil force as an attempt to get us to leave the Underworld.”

“No,” Yuri says, “They wanted to frighten us. They never imagined we would leave. We’ll have a lot to make up for when we go back, but first we have to make sure we eliminate this threat against all beings.”

Ruri shivers. “What did it do to you?” She asks.

Yuri looks at her, his expression pained and tired. “You know.”

Ruri closes her eyes and tears slip down her cheeks again. “No one deserves that,” she says.

Yuri takes her hands. “I promise you this,” he says, “Once we have eliminated this threat, we will break down some of the boundaries between the worlds. You won’t be able to travel between them every day, but it will be more frequent than once a year. I have no idea when we will find this monster, it’s very good at hiding from us, but you will be able to see your brother. Maybe he will even be able to go to the Underworld, if it’s his wish. So if you want to get stronger, do that. Don’t let fear of separation keep you from your potential, and don’t let fear of failure keep you from testing yourself.”

“Listen to him,” Shun says, looking between Yuri and Ruri. “Ruri, I don’t want you to lose anything you might be able to have. You’ll always have me, and if this guy is telling the truth—”

“I am,” Yuri says. “I swear it.”

Shun nods, and holds his hand out to Ruri. She takes it and Shun says, “Then we’ll see each other again.”

Ruri sobs and hugs Shun. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Shun says, his voice breaking. “But you won’t be alone, will you?”

Ruri sniffles, and Rin answers, “She won’t be alone. She’ll have people to look after her.”

Ruri says faintly, “I’ll work hard. I’ll become stronger, and I’ll be someone who can get justice for both of us.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Shun says with a broken laugh. “You’ll be terrifying. I just wish it didn’t have to happen this way.”

It’s a sentiment they all share. For a long time, all the beings are silent as Shun and Ruri hug each other. But the sun begins to set, and they are all reminded that their time in the human world is short. Yuto insists that Shun and Ruri go off for some sibling time, and enjoy the time they have left. Serena and Yuzu speak to Yuya, to find out more about what exactly he and his fellow spirits are and how they used to rule, and Rin wanders away from the group. She finds a dark alley and hides in it, her head bowed and her mind racing. Eventually, she senses another presence.

“I wish things could have happened differently,” Yugo says. “I wish I could have told you when you were alive.”

“I doubt I would have believed you,” Rin says. “But you could have told me after I died.”

“Could I?” Yugo asks. “Do you understand, even now, what all this means?”

Rin looks up, her eyes filled with tears. “You could have helped me to. You didn’t have to keep it secret.”

Yugo closes his eyes. “It wasn’t up to me. It was up to Yuri.”

“Why?!” Rin presses.

“Because he’s the one who was victimized,” Yugo says. “He’s a piece of work, but he’s part of me. We’re all part of each other. We need each other. I’ve known him for ages, since the dawn of time! I love and respect him enough to know that when he asks me to keep a secret, it’s not because he’s trying to be difficult. He placed a lot of faith in you, telling you our story. You can’t tell anyone, or even hint that you met us. You can say our names, sure, because no one knows us by those. But if you even mention the Gods of Chaos…I don’t know what will happen to you. Obviously bad things have happened. If I didn’t know what happened to Yuri…” Yugo gulps. “It was horrible, what happened to him. And that monster will only kill and brutalize again. We have to find it. That is my priority, and as much as I love you…” Yugo’s voice breaks. “I loved Yuri first.” He starts to cry. “I’m truly sorry, Rin. But I couldn’t betray Yuri. And even now that you know, there’s nothing I can do to help you. I can’t keep you from falling apart, I can’t change the underworld for you, I can’t bring justice to the world like I want to, like I have always wanted to. I’m so powerless, and I hate it, but it makes me understand what Yuri went through. It’s a cycle of guilt and understanding that I can barely make sense of myself, never mind explain it to anyone!”

Deep in her heart, Rin knew Yugo didn’t keep this a secret to hurt her. But she has thought of him as a brother for a long time, and the secret still hurts, but she thinks she can understand.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to have been alive as long as you have,” Rin finally says. “Are you ever lonely?”

Yugo shrugs. “I have Yuya, Yuto, and Yuri. We complete each other. And I met many human in my incarnations whose friendships I still value. You were actually the first who was incarnated into the Underworld. I didn’t know I would ever see you again after you died. Or I didn’t until I heard how you died. Even then, until you appeared before me, I didn’t know for sure.” He clears his throat. “I still think of you as my sister. I never wanted to hurt you, I knew someday I would explain things to you, I just hoped it would be after we had destroyed the monster. But it’s taken so long…” more tears fall from Yugo’s eyes. “And I’m so tired. I wish we could go home, but this bigger than anything we’ve ever faced, and I know it’s more important than I am.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Yuri says.

Yugo and Rin both jump. Yuri stands at the alley entrance, staring at Yugo.

“You do remember that I can feel what you feel, don’t you?” Yuri asks.

Yugo sighs. “Yes, I do.”

Yuri echoes Yugo’s sigh. “I’m tired, too. I know you want to go home, we all do. I know it’s unfair.” He looks at Rin. “To both of you. I am sorry for that.”

Rin looks between them. “Well…this is your job, isn’t it? Keeping the worlds safe?”

Yugo nods. “Yeah, it is.”

Rin manages a smile. “Wow, my brother is a hero.”

Yugo sobs, and Rin hugs him. She’s still hurt, but she’ll heal. She could never stay mad at Yugo, not for something like this, something she can see has caused him so much pain and conflict. She knows Yugo never tried to change himself for her, he is as true and just as he’s ever been. If Yuri, Yuya, and Yuto are anything like Yugo is, then the world is in good hands.

“I’ll see you next Obon,” Rin says, leaning back. “Hopefully sooner, but I’ll be here for you however long it takes.”

Yugo smiles. “Thanks, Rin.”

The three of them leave the alley, and Yuri says to Rin, “Yugo’s lucky to have a friend like you, as is Ruri.”

Rin smiles. “Of course, I’m amazing.”

 

Rin, Serena, Yuzu, and Ruri meet up once more in the intersection where the Onibi dropped them. Midnight is upon them, and it’s time to go back to the underworld.

“Where’s Shun?” Yuzu asks.

“We said goodbye for now,” Ruri says. She looks like she’s been crying again. “I didn’t want to be clinging to him right before I had to leave.”

Rin holds out her hand, and Ruri takes it. “It’s not forever,” she says. “We know that now.”

“True,” Ruri says with a nod. “And now I have a goal. To be a terrifying spirit who can give terrifying humans a taste of their own medicine, and hopefully use that to make the world safer.”

“Seems counter intuitive,” Yuzu mutters. Serena elbows her.

“Don’t worry,” Ruri says with a smile, “I know I can’t change everything. I’ll save the terror for truly evil people. Maybe I can be a nice spirit, too. Maybe I can appear to kids and be like, an angel to them.”

“You’ll have to do it for both of us,” Rin says, gesturing to her midsection. “I would love to be Casper the Friendly Ghost, but with all this blood it’s a little hard.”

“Such a shame,” Ruri says, “Because you are a sweetheart.”

Rin blushes, and the two Onibi pick that moment to shoot out of the ground and circle around them.

“Alright, you lovebirds,” Serena says, “Time to go home.”

“Like you and Yuzu are any better!” Rin sputters. Serena ignores her and climbs on her Onibi with Yuzu.

Ruri swings her leg over the floating spirit and turns to Rin. “Come on,” she says, “I’m ready to go home.”

Home. It sounds nice, coming from Ruri. Rin gets on the Onibi and holds tight to Ruri’s waist as they hurdle down, back to the Underworld.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday I’ll write the last part of this series, which will focus on the Yuu-boys as they confront the evil they’ve been hunting. For now, like a lot of my fellow Americans, I’m going to be a bit preoccupied. I have several stories I’m working on, each of them a distraction I desperately need. I don’t know which I’ll work on next, or what I’ll post when. I hope I won’t keep you in suspense for long, but it all depends on what tomorrow brings.
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you stick around to see what I have planned!


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